@article{da4e126e74dc4737a5f7e97a456dff9b,
title = "Breastfeeding in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: A discussion paper",
abstract = "Breastfeeding offers one of the most fundamental global health benefits for babies. Breastmilk is lifesaving, providing not only nutrition but immunologic benefits and as such is strongly supported by the World Health Organization and leading healthcare associations worldwide. When the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, the impact of the restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease created challenges and questions about provision of safe, quality care, including breastfeeding practices, in a new {\textquoteleft}normal{\textquoteright} environment. Mothers were temporarily separated from their babies where infection was present or suspected, parents were prevented from being present on neonatal units and vital breastfeeding support was prevented. This discussion paper provides an overview of essential areas of knowledge related to practice for neonatal nurses and midwives who care for breastfeeding mothers and babies, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the latest global guidance. Three areas will be discussed; the protective benefits of breastfeeding, keeping breastfeeding mothers and babies together and supporting mothers to breastfeed their babies. Finally, care recommendations are presented to serve as a summary of key points for application to practice for neonatal nurses and midwives.",
keywords = "COVID-19, Breastfeeding, Protective benefits, Avoiding separation, Support",
author = "Karen Walker and Janet Green and Julia Petty and Lisa Whiting and Lynette Staff and Patricia Bromley and Cathrine Fowler and Jones, {Linda K.}",
note = "Includes bibliographical references Funding Information: Early in the pandemic, questions arose as to whether breastfeeding posed a risk to the baby from potential COVID-19 transmission ( Hand and Noble, 2020 ; Stuebe, 2020 ; Bhatt, 2021 ). WHO (2020) highlighted health professionals' concerns that mothers with COVID-19 could transmit the virus to their baby through breastfeeding. Unfortunately, such concerns led to several COVID-19 policies and reports suggesting separation of babies and mothers, thus preventing or impeding breastfeeding ( Pereira et al., 2020 ). This was despite no evidence for vertical transmission of the virus and any identified infection in the baby usually resulted in mild symptoms ( Gribble et al., 2020 ). To mitigate the concerns raised, the WHO released guidance that the benefits of breastfeeding outweighed any risk to the baby ( WHO, 2020 ; 2021b ). Furthermore, they emphasised the importance of keeping mothers and babies together, with usual hand hygiene precautions, wearing a mask if the mother was symptomatic and reinforcing the importance of providing expressed breastmilk to the baby even if the mother was severely ill ( WHO, 2021b ). This guidance was supported by other international health organizations such as UNICEF (2020) , the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP, 2020) and the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA, 2021) . In addition, there was a strong global {\textquoteleft}zero separation{\textquoteright} campaign launched by the Global Alliance for Newborn Care (GLANCE), further emphasising the importance of keeping parents and babies together and promoting breastfeeding in neonatal units ( GLANCE, 2021 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 {\textcopyright} 2021 Neonatal Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",
year = "2022",
month = feb,
doi = "10.1016/j.jnn.2021.08.003",
language = "English",
volume = "28",
pages = "9--15",
journal = "Journal of Neonatal Nursing",
issn = "1355-1841",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
number = "1",
}